The two-metre social distancing rule for coronavirus was “conjured up out of nowhere”, a government adviser has claimed.

Authorities have told people to stay at least two metres apart when out in public but this distance has been questioned by Robert Dingwall from the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag).

Nervtag is one of the organisations that feed information into the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), which is a crucial part of the government’s COVID-19 response.

Nottingham Trent University sociology professor Dingwall told Radio 4's Today: “We cannot sustain [social distancing measures] without causing serious damage to society, to the economy and to the physical and mental health of the population.

'I think it will be much harder to get compliance with some of the measures that really do not have an evidence base.